1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telephone line devices, and more particularly, to a programmable customer premises device for selectively assigning two or more incoming telephone lines between a plurality of communications instruments at a telephone customer's home or business.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many telephone customers have several telephone lines for providing phone service to a plurality of different communication instruments. For example, it is common for residential telephone customers to have one telephone line for their main telephone or telephones, a second telephone line for their childrens' telephones, a third telephone line for their family computers and facsimile machines, and a fourth telephone line for their home office computer equipment. Moreover, the number of telephone lines subscribed to by customers is expected to increase in the future.
Currently, telephone customers who have a plurality of different communication instruments must either: (1) use only one communication instrument at a time, (2) subscribe to separate telephone lines for each communication instrument, or (3) purchase expensive multi-line telephones that can interconnect between more than one telephone line. None of these options is desirable. The first is inconvenient and the second and third are often too expensive, especially for residential telephone customers.
Sophisticated programmable connection devices are not affordable to many users and are not suitable for residential use. Some examples of these sophisticated devices are PBX systems and automatic call distribution (ACD) systems. Typically, PBX and ACD systems make connections based on telephone numbers. Clearly they are quite expensive and are not suited to residential use. Another example of such sophisticated equipment are digital cross-connect systems (DCS). Clearly, DCS systems are not affordable or suitable to residential users.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved customer telephone line device for coupling a plurality of telephone lines with a plurality of communication instruments. More particularly, there is a need for such a device that permits a telephone customer to use more than one communication instrument at a time without subscribing to a separate telephone line for each communication instrument and without purchasing expensive multi-line telephones.